Switch



Patented Oct. 25, 1927'.

' UNITED STATES PATENToFFicE.

rnANx n. QUEENEY, or TEANECK, Naw

JERSEY, ASSIGNOR T INTERNATIONAL moron COHPANY, or NEW Yonx, N. Y., A CORPORATION 'or DELAWARE.

SWITCH.

Application iled lay (29,` 1926. Serial No. 112,515. y

a tickler field'winding is frequently used on the generator to effect a more rapid build-- ing up of the voltage so soon as the accelerator pedal is pressed. The tickler field current is supplied by the battery which, at present is connected all the time the engine is in operation. The resent invention has for its object to save t is current furnished bythe battery except in the initial stages vof operation when it is required to excite the tickler field and still be able to use av larger amperage to give a quicker pick-up. 4To this end a circuit closing device 1s availed of to close the circuit including the battery-r and tickler field winding upon'a predeter mined initial movement of the accelerator pedal and to automatically open the circuit so soon as the generator `voltage has built up. Preferably the circuit closing device comprises a receptacle filled with al liquid conductor of electric current, displaceable upon movement ofthe accelerator to close spaced contacts in the circuit and maintain the contacts for a predetermined period. More particularl mercury within a cylinder is displaced y a piston connected with theA accelerator pedal and is forced thereby into'a contact tube when the electrical contact is made to close the circuit'and the contact is maintained until the mercury flows back through an adjustable by-pass in the piston to vits 'normal level. Reference will now b e had to the accompanying draw- I ing illustratinga referred embodiment of the invention 1n w ich the automatic switch is shown in4 transverse vertical section.

It will be apparent that the invention is not limited in its a plication to the closingI of a tickler fie d circuit, but is equally useful in any situation where a circuit is to be closed for a predetermined period upon the initiation of another movement.

The spaced contacts are afforded bythe wall a of the housing a containing the entire mechanism lto which one conductor b the mercury It within the the contact tube, the mercury tends from the foregoing 4.

of the circuit is connected andv by` the contact rod c supported in an insulatingplug d to which the other conductor e of the circuit is connected.

Upon, say, the first quarter inch depression of the acceleration pedal (not shown) connected as by a link' f to the piston rod'g,

cylinder a2 is displaced by the piston g( and forced up in the well or .contact tube as and into contact with the end of the contact c within the cylindrical insulator z'. An electrical connection is thus formed between the wall a and the contact c permitting vcurrent 'to flow in the circuit, say, between the battery and the tickler field winding.

Immediately 'upon depression of the piston and the raising of the level of mercury in to seek its own level and escapes throu h the by pass g2 until the normal level is attained when the circuit is broken. The rate of flow through theby-pass g and hence the period of closed circuit to excite the tickler field winding, say, may be determined by the constriction of the by-pass by the screw g, the size of the orifice and the volume of mercury bein so proportioned as Yto permit the circuit toghe closed for that period of time necessary to excite the 'tickler field until the requisite generator voltage is built u Excess mercury entering. the rcontact tu e over ows into the chamber a4 and returns to the upper side Aof the piston through the return passage a. y

When the pressure on the accelerator pedal is released and the piston elevated the mer-V cury-above the piston is permitted to return to the lower side through the' passage g,but the/flow -of mercury in the opposlte direction, when say the piston is belng depressed device has been provided which is operative upon the movement 'of an instrumentality connected thereto and that the electric circuit made thereby is automatically broken after a predetermined time` element based u on the requirements of the particular app ication.

Modifications will occur to those skilled in the art, in the composition and configuration' of the component elements gloing to make up the device as a whole as we as in the application thereof and reference is to be had to the appended claims for a delineation of the scope of'the invention.

What I claim is: l

l. `In an Aelectrical device of the character described, in combination, a cylinder, a piston within the cylinder, a well external to and `connected with the cylinder, spaced contact elements in the well, mercury within the cylinder, a passage in the piston for the mercur to by-pass the piston, and means to contro the size of the passage.

2. In an electrical device of the character described, in combination` arcylinder, a iston within the, cylinder, a. well external to and connectedv with the cylinder, spaced contact elements in the well, mercury within the cylinder, a passage for the mercury to bypass the piston, means to contro'l the size of the passage, and means to permit the flow of mercury from th'upper to the lower side of the piston. l

3. In an electrical switch, in combination, a cylinder, a piston within the cylinder and formed with a one way passage' and a controllable passage, acontact Utube communieating with the cylinder. an insulated electrical contact in the tube, means to connect an electrical conductor with the wall nf the tube, mercuryv \within the cylinder and a passa e from the upper part'of the tube to the c inder.

4., n an electrical switch,in combination, a container of relatively high electrical conductivity forming a cylinder and a contact tube communicatlng at their lower ends, a conta-ct axially of the contact tube, means to insulate the contact from the container,

means to connect a conductor to the con-v 

